How to Collect Cannabis Pollen (and Keep It Viable)

To collect cannabis pollen, cut a cluster of male flowers just as the pollen sacs start to open, let it dry somewhere warm, dry and dark until the sacs release easily, shake it over a fine-mesh screen onto parchment paper, dry the pollen for about 48 hours and store it in an airtight glass jar in the fridge or freezer. Pollen is something many growers want and others dread: if you grow for smoking, it's the last thing you want in your grow, but if you want to breed new strains or preserve genetics, you can't do without it.

There's also a naming mix-up worth clearing up first. In Spanish-speaking weed scenes, especially in Spain, the word “polen” (pollen) is also slang for a sifted resin product, and plenty of smokers and growers, especially rookies, confuse it with hash and with actual plant pollen. They share some similarities, but they're not the same thing.

“Polen” in weed slang: what is it?

In that slang sense, “polen” is the resin the plant sheds: the powder you get when you rub dried plant material over a sieve, what most English speakers would call kief or dry sift. Its THC ratio is usually much higher than that of pressed hash.

What real cannabis pollen does

Female plants get all the love because they produce the trichome-covered, resinous buds that get harvested for smoking, vaping, edibles and other products. But those sticky, phytochemical-packed buds only happen if the females haven't been pollinated.

The male's job is to release pollen into the air to fertilize the females. Once that happens, you can kiss those top-shelf, jar-worthy buds goodbye.

When female flowers get pollinated, they start producing seeds, which leave the buds harsh and unpleasant to smoke.

Even so, cannabis pollen is exactly what you need to develop new strains or preserve the genetics of an existing one.

What is hash?

The confusion comes mostly from hash, because it's also made from cannabis resin. In the Spanish slang sense, though, the quality of hash usually isn't as high as “polen.”

The THC ratio of dry hash is usually much lower than that of sifted “polen,” although it can vary a lot.

You can also tell them apart by color. Sifted “polen” is yellowish, while hash comes in a much wider range of shades, from brownish all the way to black.

How and when does a cannabis plant release pollen?

Pollen sacs are the reproductive organs of a male cannabis plant. Toward the end of the vegetative stage, these sacs develop at the plant's nodes, the spots where branches meet the stem.

Once the male reaches maturity, roughly 4-5 weeks after flowering starts, the sacs open and release pollen into the air. The wind can carry that pollen to a female cannabis plant and fertilize her. When that happens, the female produces seeds that carry genes from both the female and the male, keeping the species going.

How do you collect pollen from a male cannabis plant?

Collecting and storing cannabis pollen is a great way to experiment with your plants and to preserve the authentic, original genetics of the mother plant. Some people prefer to save seeds instead, which is also a solid option, since pollen takes a bit more work to collect.

Before you start collecting pollen, there are a few ground rules.

What you need to know before collecting pollen

• Pollen gets everywhere, so the number one rule is no air movement or drafts in the room. Turn off all the fans and keep movement to a minimum. Handling pollen with latex gloves is recommended.

• Wearing a mask so you don't breathe in the pollen is also key. If you're very sensitive or allergic, safety goggles and a respirator go a long way.

• Pollen is extremely light and drifts off at the slightest breeze. To make the job easier and avoid losing any, have everything you need to store the pollen ready before you start. 

Collecting pollen is delicate work. You don't want a draft carrying these tiny particles over to your females, which would make them produce seeds instead of sticky green buds. Stress during flowering can also lead to hermaphrodite plants, which produce both buds and seeds. If you can, keep male plants and females in separate rooms.

Step by step: how to collect cannabis pollen

The most important part of capturing pollen is timing. Miss the window and the pollen ends up in the air, and once the male has done its job, it starts to wither. Make sure you capture the pollen as soon as the sacs open.

The simplest way to collect cannabis pollen is to cut off a cluster of male flowers. 

For this method you'll need:

• a sealed storage container or a heavy-duty Ziploc bag to collect the pollen
• clean, sterilized scissors to cut a cluster of flowers and pollen sacs from the plant
• a container or bag to hold the cluster while you keep it somewhere warm, dry and dark. This dries out the cluster, which makes it easier for the sacs to open and release the pollen.

Collecting the pollen sacs

First, you need to harvest the pollen sacs from a male plant. As soon as you see well-developed sacs on a male, keep a close eye on it. Keep in mind that cannabis pollen usually stays viable for about 2-3 days once it's released.

When the pollen sacs look like they're starting to open, it's time to collect them. The best way is to take the whole cluster of male flowers, then squeeze and shake it over a fine-mesh sieve onto a sheet of parchment paper to separate the pollen.

Drying the cannabis pollen

After sifting, use a clean brush to spread the pollen out over the paper, and leave it somewhere dry, warm and shaded. Let it dry for 48 hours, and then you can use it or store it. Ideally, keep it at 18-24 °C (64-75 °F) with 30-60% humidity.

To check whether a cluster is fully dry, give the container a good shake. If the pollen comes out of the sacs easily, they're ready to collect. If the sacs don't open easily, let them dry for a few more days before trying again.

Separating plant matter from pollen

After a successful round of shaking, it's time to separate the plant matter from the pollen with a metal mesh strainer. Put wax paper or parchment paper under the strainer so the pollen lands on a clean surface. When you tip the cluster into the strainer, the pollen should fall through the mesh onto the paper below.

Storing cannabis pollen

When it comes to storage, cannabis pollen needs a dry, airtight, dark place, away from light. Watch out for temperature swings, since they can damage the cells or create moisture from condensation. You can keep it in the fridge or the freezer.

For the container itself, we recommend a glass jar over plastic bags. Jars are more reliable and seal much better.

Once you're done collecting pollen, change your clothes and hop in the shower, since pollen spreads easily and can pollinate other plants without you meaning to.